How can you say that Street isn't sick? She has CFS and/or FM doesn't she?? In my book, that definitely makes her, and anyone else that has either of these debilitating illnesses, "sick".

Considering that the majority of us with CFS/FM are struggling just to make it through the day, now you want us to "just learn to cook a wider range of healthier foods". Where is the energy to do that on our bad days supposed to come from? For people with FM and can barely make a simple salad on some days, you expect them to just cook their way through their excrutiating pain? And, I would be willing to bet that a lot of people with CFS/FM don't have the money to afford to buy the healthier foods either.

You can eat as much fresh garlic as you want. I don't know how much cooking/food prep you can do, but when I am up to preparing meals, I add garlic to things like salad dressings, chilies/stews, soups, rice, casseroles, rub it onto bread for garlic bread, add it to potatoes as they are cooking for garlicky potatoes. The possibilities are endless. On the days you don't feel up to cooking, if your stomach can take it, just do as you are and crush a clove and swallow. Just be careful not to breathe on everyone after

One other idea is the take garlic cloves, extra-virgin olive oil, and cilantro and buzz them in the blender and eat a spoon of this a couple of times a day. Not only are you getting the goodness from the garlic, you are also getting the goodness of the oil, and cilantro works in the body as a chelator and helps to flush out toxic metals. This will keep for several days in the fridge so you can make a large batch rather than doing this everyday.

hi street129,
i am currently eating half a clove of garlic each day.i crush it up and spread it onto any meat that im eating, roughly about 1pm,each day.this is before i go to my job.

i used to crush and eat one clove a day,at my evening meal,but i found it to disagree with my stomach.

i did find that i should not eat garlic near to the time that i take my nortriptyline tablet ,as i would be vomiting a few hours later.

ive been eating the half clove of garlic once a day for about a month now,and i seem to not be getting cold viruses that my family are coming down with.

im not sure if its due to the garlic as i did have my swine flu jab a few months ago.but having said that,so did my daughter, but she is still catching cold,s and other viruses.

i have found that when im working and sweating,my arm pitts smell of garlic lol.

but people at work have noticed im not now coming down with viruses,and they have decided to take garlic capsules.i could,nt take those as the capsule agrivated my stomach for some reason, and i would vomit it back up.

I had the same problem with garlic not agreeing with my stomach and feeling very nauseous after eating it raw, by itself. I do much better if it is mixed in with something else. I definitely get the garlic breath thing happening for the next 12 hours.

The "Gilroy garlic festival" is held every summer, as they claim to be the garlic capital of the world. I've never stopped, but you can't miss the smell from the fields, festival, or no festival. It's a little town in central CA. I'm sure a search will pull up some info. They sell all kinds of products with garlic, or so I've heard. I think I'll stop next trip to NORCAL or OR.

Aussie - I think the OP was refering to the fact that we are not treating parasites...

Cheers
[This Message was Edited on 03/05/2010]
[This Message was Edited on 03/05/2010]

i'm having a heck of a struggle getting inflammation under control, especially digestive. if i add garlic to my diet, it seems to increase the inflamed stomach and digestive tract. i have a long-time case of CFS.

oddly, garlic used to help control the inflammation; but it sure isn't beneficial for the inflammation problem at this point in my life.

all thoughts about non-pharma ways to combat this life-threatening symptom are welcome.

Street129, i have always heard that it's good to start low and build up to your comfort level, and you will know when you are there.

Actually, I am pretty sure that street has mentioned having a problem with some sort of parasites in a previous thread (& there is quite a bit of evidence that many CFS patients do have parasite issues - some of these are very small and hard to detect, and one of these parasites was only recently discovered - there was an article in the pro health newsletter about it not too long ago)....she has also mentioned candida, CFS, possible Lyme, and several other significant issues - several of these may be helped by garlic

it IS often impossible for many of us to cook at all, let alone purchase fresh foods, cook and clean up after, so yes unfortunately this is a very valid reason for not being able to make all sorts of healthy meals (of course, if it is at all possible, it is important to eat as healthy as possible, but when someone is bed bound, or very weak, or has OI, or has other required energy expenditures, then it may not be possible to cook), and when one is sick, nutrient requirements are increased, so it may not be possible to get all that we need from our foods, even if we are able to cook

one thing that is important to mention about garlic, though, is that is is sulfur based and there are many people with CFS who cannot tolerate sulfur based foods, no matter how otherwise healthy such foods might be
[This Message was Edited on 03/05/2010]
[This Message was Edited on 03/05/2010]
[This Message was Edited on 03/05/2010]

on a bad day, even that is well beyond my capabilities - simple & quick or not (I'm not knocking the suggestion at all when I say that - but there truly are days when there is no way I could even manage that much)

it would also be good to add some protein if looking to make that into a meal (for those who can tolerate dairy, not me unfortunately, adding some shredded cheese to this would add some protein)

any bread, carbohydrate stuff, pasta, cheese = a field day for candida growth. this is a real danger for me and many others who have complained about their own symptoms. adding the smallest amount of a medium for candida to take hold in the gut is 1)a constant awareness issue, and 2)requires being resolute about not putting such food items into the digestive system. for myself, this unfortunately includes bread.

if digestive inflammation isn't an issue, then that is the exception for someone battling CFS (and most fortunate indeed).

when i see such an appealing garlic bread recipe, it makes me realize once again all the great foods i'm missing so much. Bummer

is most common among Us; whether or not it's an "official" symptom, I could care less. it is an opportunistic condition that flourishes in a suppressed immune system. if one follows the posts on this board over the years, it is often raised as something which is wreaking havoc. i do know that it can be treated best by: no sugar, or things that break down to sugar; it takes willpower. sometimes i lose it/ then begins the cycle of Pain & bloating from candida explosion. this is common, and those who suffer from it aren't exaggerating.

of more importance is the inflammed digestive system which provides the ideal condition for candida to become imbalanced and secondarily out of control. garlic (cooked or raw) does not improve this for me, but sends the inflammation into high gear. in my first post above, i asked for help about controlling inflammation but since it's a garlic thread, guess i'll post that as a topic.

questions about candida's causes and symptoms can best be answered by googling. Spidey Senses? lol

I also question whether Candida is common in people with CFS. It is a known fact that people with HIV often have Candida, and medical doctors have no problem with finding and diagnosing this. Therefore, why wouldn't they be able to find it easily in CFS patients?? I would say because it ISN'T there.